NEW DELHI: Security analysts say towards end of 2010, the Indian Mujahideen showed definite signs of revival, with their capabilities still up to what they were in 2008. The first IM strike was against foreign tourists near Jama Masjid, Delhi, on September 19, 2010: two Taiwanese nationals were injured in gunfire. A few hours after the attack, BBC’s Hindi language service received an e-mail, purportedly from the IM, threatening to attack the CWG next: “We know preparations for the Games are at their peak. Beware, we too are preparing in full swing for a great surprise.” Perhaps, the huge security around CWG acted as a deterrent.
However, on December 7, 2010, IM hit Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat—in which a child was killed and 20 were injured. The IM claimed responsibility in an email traced to Malad, Mumbai. It said, “Indian Mujahideen attribute this attack to the 6th of December that will haunt your nation of world’s ‘Greatest Democracy’.” The five-page e-mail also warned of more attacks and had references to Allahabad High Court’s judgment on Ayodhya and manhandling and heckling of the Kashmiri leadership in Indian cities. The Madhya Pradesh police discovered during interrogations of the nabbed terrorists that IM-SIMI was planning spectacular attacks like targeting the judges who delivered the Ayodhya judgment. Two terrorists, Mujeeb and Aslam, had already rented a safehouse in Lucknow. The photos of the judges who delivered the judgement were also recovered from their possession.